PRAYER AND WORSHIP

Worship exists for God. He is the only one worthy of our praise and adoration. We want His fame to spread throughout the world and for Him to be honored, adored, and glorified in our midst. Prayer is an essential part of our worship and should reflect this adoration and praise. Our prayers during worship should lift the weary soul up before God just as much as our music or any other offering we bring. That does not mean praying in our “God voices” but making sure that our hearts and minds are pure and focused entirely on Him.

In Matthew 21:13 Jesus said, “It is written, My house will be called a house of prayer. But you have made it a den of thieves!” Someone has said, “If you really want to know where a person’s heart is – listen to his or her prayers!” Gary Rohrmayer says, “Our prayers can be a window to our souls that reveal our deepest motives, desires, and passions.” Here are some prayers we should all be praying from our hearts faithfully every day:

“Father, break my heart for the world you are seeking to save!”

Remember our prayer challenge from the beginning of this year, “Lord, I don’t ask for much today. I just ask that you give me Your heart for lost people.” Since God loves all people, desires the salvation of all people, and died for all people we should be praying fervently that He gives us His heart for the lost.

Missionary David Brainerd wrote the following words over three hundred years ago. “I care not where I go, or how I live, or what I have to endure so that I may save souls. When I sleep I dream of them; when I awake they are first in my thoughts…no amount of scholastic attainment, of able and profound exposition of brilliant and stirring eloquence can atone for the absence of a deep impassioned sympathetic love for human souls.”

“Father, give me a bigger picture of You and Your work in my life!”

Ephesians 1:18-19 says, “I pray that the perception of your mind may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His vast strength.”

We should pray that we keep our eyes on Him and see the “weightiness” of whom He is. When we do that, the “weight” of other things will no longer pull us down nor be able to control us! J. D. Greear says, “When we see the size and beauty of God who speaks to us, the power of sin and idolatry over our hearts is broken!”

“Father, pour out a spirit of generosity in my life!”

One of the qualities and marks of spiritual maturity is that of a generous spirit. Acts 20:35 says, “In every way I’ve shown you that by laboring like this, it is necessary to help the weak and to keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus, for He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Pray that your church will be a church that is dedicated to helping others and being a blessing to your community. God blesses us not so that we can have and accumulate but so that we can bless others. Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, “And the King will answer them, I assure you: whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

“Father, help me to empower and release others into your harvest field.”

Our vision is to have a discipleship based multiplication of disciples, leaders, and churches. It begins with a discipleship process and developing a leadership pipeline out of that. If we are going to release people into the harvest we must first be reaching and winning them out of the harvest.

How much time are you spending developing leaders? If you say you value leadership development then there should be evidence of that on your calendar. Are you pouring more into your leaders weekly so that they can be leaders of other leaders? The natural flow comes out of our discipleship as we observe those who desire more and we focus on the three out of the 12 as Jesus did.

“Father, help my prayers during the worship service to be of the best kind.”

In Next Steps, Gary Rohrmayer writes, “Pastors and worship leaders must read and study Solomon’s blessing and prayer in II Chronicles 6:3-42. One of my concerns is that all too often public prayer in our contemporary service is added on at the end of a worship set or simply used as a transition between the different elements of the service.”

In Lectures to My Students, Charles Spurgeon wrote, “Let me therefore, very earnestly caution you, beloved brethren, against spoiling your services with your prayers: make it your solemn resolve that all engagements of the sanctuary shall be of the best kind.” We simply should come with clean hands and a pure heart crying out to God to do whatever is necessary for His presence to be known in our worship.

The Sacrifice of Worship

J.D. Greear emphasizes the importance of worship, “When we see the size and beauty of the God who speaks to us, the power of sin and idolatry over our hearts is broken! The way we will stop sinning is not by being told over and over to, ‘Stop sinning!’ but by seeing the majesty and glory of God in our hearts. As we see the beauty of God and feel His weightiness in our hearts, our hearts begin to desire Him more than we desire sin. Before the Bible says, ‘Stop sinning,’ it says, ‘Behold your God!’”

When we have seen the beauty of God and felt the weightiness of God’s majesty in our soul, sin’s power is broken over us. The problem is not that our desires for other idols are too large; it’s because our desire for God is too small. Lesser urges can only be expelled by stronger ones. Our affections for idols are brought under control only when they are taken captive by a stronger more enchanting affection. You will only hate sin when you start to love God!

That occurs through worship, as we desire to see Him high and lifted up more than anything else going on in our lives. Remember, idolatry literally means “weight” and it is anything that we assign and give more importance than God. Worship enables us to see God as “weightier” than any sin in our life and we cannot imagine life without Him.

Worship has been described as “worthship.” You worship what you give worth to…those relationships or possessions or goals that you supremely value. Worship has always involved sacrifice. The Apostle Paul uses sacrificial terminology and outlives for us four tangible sacrifices we can offer God as an act of worship.

First, is a Surrendered Life. Paul tells us in Romans 12:1 that we are to “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship.” The essence of worship is found in yielding our lives to the Lordship of Christ. Nothing hinders personal and corporate worship more than lives that have crawled off the altar and have chosen not to surrender themselves to the care and control of Jesus.

Second, is a Sacrifice of Praise. Hebrews 13:15, “Therefore through Him let us continually offer up the to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of our lips that confess His name.” A big part of worship is offering words that acknowledge God’s character (who He is) and thank Him for His goodness (all that He has done for us). Worship is not a spectator sport but rather requires our participation as we pray, sing, and listen to the word of God.

Third, is our Service and Generosity. Hebrews13:16 , “Don’t neglect to do what is good and to share, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.” From the greeters to the safety team to all others who come early to serve in some capacity, please realize that your worship begins when you show up! Through your acts of service and your willingness to be generous with your time you are offering a sacrifice to God (worship), which is pleasing to Him.

Fourth, is our Financial Gifts. Philippians 4:18, “I am fully supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you provided—a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.” Paul thanked them for their financial support and describes these financial gifts with worship language. Giving to the Lord is an act of worship not just an act of stewardship. Is what I am giving to the Lord and the spirit by which I give it pleasing to the Lord? When it is, it is worship!

Everyone involved in making sure that the worship service gets up and running needs to see themselves as priests before God. An attitude of service and sacrifice is key for providing a holy atmosphere for people to encounter a holy God. We must have our hearts prepared to worship God through personal examination, confession of sins, and the resolution of any conflicts. During a worship celebration God is to be exalted with a focus on His goodness and eternal mercies.

Our worship services exist for God. He is our focus. We want His fame to spread throughout the world. We want Him to be honored, adored, and glorified in our midst. The sole purpose is to meet with God because He is the only one who can meet our spiritual needs. Our public prayers should reflect this adoration. They should lift the weary soul up before God just as much as our music does. Does this mean we need to pray in our God voice? No, it simply means we get our hearts and minds ready for leading people before His throne of grace.

The leaders must be spiritually focused to guide God’s people in worship. They must have their hearts prepared to worship Him through personal examination, confession of sins, and the resolution of any conflicts. There should be a celebrative atmosphere during the worship service. Music sets the tone of our worship and whether it is hymns or choruses there must be an inspiring aspect that lifts God’s people out of their ordinary lives into the presence of God.

There must also be a clear emphasis on the character of God. The sole purpose is meet with God, the only one who can meet our spiritual needs. We want Him to be honored, adored, and glorified in our midst. He alone is the one who is worthy of our praise, adoration, and worship. Any sacrifice of our time, effort, or energy that we give Him is well worth it. When the motive is right, these offerings are well pleasing in His sight!

Pslam 96:9 says, “Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness;
tremble before Him, all the earth.”